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Charles Edward "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.

Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website, "While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together." Cub Koda wrote, "Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, possessing the clearest diction, and one of its greatest performers." John Lennon said: "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986. He received Kennedy Center Honors in 2000 in a "class" with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Angela Lansbury, and Clint Eastwood. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Chuck Berry #5 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, being the 3rd individual singer behind Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley. He was also ranked 6th on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest guitarists of All Time.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included three of Chuck Berry's songs ("Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", "Rock and Roll Music"), of the 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.

Biography

Early life, and first arrest and conviction (1926–47)

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry was the fourth child in a family of six. He grew up in the north St. Louis neighborhood known as "The Ville", an area where many middle class St. Louis people lived at the time. His father was a contractor and a deacon of a nearby Baptist church, his mother a qualified principal. His middle class upbringing allowed him to pursue his interest in music from an early age and he made his first public performance while still at Sumner High School.

In 1944, before he could graduate, he was arrested and convicted of armed robbery after taking a joy ride with his friends to Kansas City, Missouri. In his 1987 autobiography, Chuck Berry: The Autobiography, he retells the story that his car broke down on the side of a highway and, not having a way home, flagged down a passing car. Berry attempted to commandeer the man's car at gunpoint with a non-functional pistol. The carjacked man called the police from a nearby pay phone; they quickly pulled over Berry in the car and arrested him and his friends. Berry was released from the Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men at Algoa, near Jefferson City, Missouri on his 21st birthday in 1947.

Early career (1948–55)

After his release from prison Berry married Themetta "Toddy" Suggs on October 28, 1948 and pursued a number of jobs in St. Louis. He worked briefly as a factory worker at two automobile assembly plants, and he also took on the position of janitor for the apartment building where he and his wife lived. Afterwards he trained as a beautician at the Poro College of Cosmetology, founded by Annie Turnbo Malone. He also considered a career as a photographer.

Berry began moonlighting as a guitarist for various bands in St. Louis as an extra source of income. He had been playing the blues since his teens, according to the 1987 Taylor Hackford film Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, and he borrowed both guitar riffs and grandstanding techniques from blues player T-Bone Walker. By early 1953 Berry was performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio, a band that played at a popular club called The Cosmopolitan, in East St. Louis, Illinois and whose namesake would become Berry's long-time collaborator. Although the band played mostly blues and ballads, the most popular music among whites in the area was country (typically referred to as hillbilly at the time). Berry wrote, "Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our black audience began whispering 'who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?' After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it."

Berry's calculated showmanship began luring larger white audiences to the club. He also began singing the songs of Nat "King" Cole and Muddy Waters. "Listening to Nat Cole prompted me to sing sentimental songs with distinct diction," said Berry. "The songs of Muddy Waters impelled me to deliver the down-home blues in the language they came from. When I played hillbilly songs, I stressed my diction so that it was harder and whiter. All in all, it was my intention to hold both the black and the white clientele by voicing the different kinds of songs in their customary tongues."

In May 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago where he met Waters himself, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess of Chess Records. Berry thought his blues material would be of most interest to Chess, but to his surprise it was an old country and western recording by Bob Wills, entitled "Ida Red" that got Chess's attention. At that time, Chess had seen the blues market shrink and was looking to move beyond the rhythm and blues market, and he thought Berry might be that artist who could do it. So on May 21, 1955 Berry recorded an adaptation of "Ida Red" - "Maybellene" - which featured Johnnie Johnson on piano, Jerome Green (from Bo Diddley's band) on the maracas, Jasper Thomas on the drums and Willie Dixon on the bass. "Maybellene" sold over a million copies, reaching #1 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues chart and #5 on the Hot 100.

Ascent to stardom (1956–59)

At the end of June 1956, his song "Roll Over Beethoven" reached #29 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.

In 1956 Berry toured as one of the "Top Acts of '56". He and Carl Perkins became friends. Perkins said that "I knew when I first heard Chuck that he'd been affected by country music. I respected his writing; his records were very, very great." As they toured, Perkins discovered that Berry not only liked country music, but knew about as many songs as he did. Jimmie Rodgers was one of his favorites. "Chuck knew every Blue Yodel and most of Bill Monroe's songs as well," Perkins remembered. "He told me about how he was raised very poor, very tough. He had a hard life. He was a good guy. I really liked him."

In the autumn of 1957 Berry joined the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and other rising stars of the new rock and roll to tour the United States. He also guest starred on ABC's The Guy Mitchell Show, having sung his hit song "Rock 'n' Roll". The hits continued from 1957 to 1959, with Berry scoring over a dozen chart singles during this period, including the top 10 U.S. hits "School Days," "Rock and Roll Music," "Sweet Little Sixteen," and "Johnny B. Goode." Author/producer Robert Palmer wrote that Berry’s songs tended to feature country and western inflected light blues melodies, along with plenty of guitar twang. He also had a taste for the "Spanish tinge", as in "La Juanda" and "Havana Moon".

Berry appeared in two early rock 'n' roll movies. The first was Rock Rock Rock, released in 1956. He is shown singing "You Can't Catch Me." He had a speaking role as himself in the 1959 film Go, Johnny, Go! along with Alan Freed, and was also shown performing his songs "Johnny B. Goode," "Memphis, Tennessee," and "Little Queenie."

Berry performed "Sweet Little Sixteen" at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 and the performance was included in the motion picture Jazz on a Summer's Day.

Second jail term (1959–63)

Berry in Deauville France in 1987

By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star with several hit records and film appearances to his name, as well as a lucrative touring career. He had also established his own St. Louis-based nightclub, called Berry's Club Bandstand. It was an integrated venue catering to black and white customers. Berry, a shrewd businessman, even considered opening an amusement park, according to Allmusic.com.

But in December 1959, Berry encountered legal problems after he invited a 14-year-old Apache waitress whom he met in New Mexico to work as a hat check girl at his club. After being fired from the club, the girl was arrested on a prostitution charge and Berry was arrested under the Mann Act. After a trial and retrial, Berry was convicted, fined $5,000, and sentenced to five years in prison. This event, coupled with other early rock and roll scandals such as Jerry Lee Lewis' marriage to his 13-year-old cousin and Alan Freed's payola conviction, gave rock and roll an image problem that limited its acceptance into mainstream U.S. society.

Researchers have questioned whether the trial was a fair one due to often racist, sensationalist coverage in the press and the racial bias of the judge. In the book Shades of Freedom, Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham describes the District Court trial judge as "hostile and racially motivated" and says that the court noted that the judge commented on Berry's race. Berry would later criticise his lawyer, Merle Silverstein, for not objecting to the judge's centering of the trial on the race of the defendant saying he had little faith in Silverstein.

Career resurgence (1963–65)

When Berry was released from prison in 1963, his musical career enjoyed a resurgence due to many of the British invasion acts of the 1960s — most notably the Beatles and the Rolling Stones — releasing cover versions of Berry's songs. Additionally, The Beach Boys' hit "Surfin' USA", while originally credited as composed by Brian Wilson, is in large part a direct copy (musically) of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". The Beach Boys song has since been credited to Chuck Berry.

In 1964–65 Berry resumed recording and placed six singles in the U.S. Hot 100, including "No Particular Place To Go" (#10), "You Never Can Tell" (#14), and "Nadine" (#23).

Exit and return to Chess (1966–72)

In 1966 Berry left Chess Records, moving to the Mercury label. During his brief time at Mercury, he recorded several albums, including an album of re-recordings of his Chess hits, and an album dominated by an 18-minute-long instrumental, "Concerto in B. Goode". For a variety of reasons—including changing musical tastes and different production techniques—the hits dried up for Chuck during the Mercury era.

He was still a top concert draw, however, and in July 1969 Berry was the headliner of the Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park, along with The Byrds, Miles Davis, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa and Patti LaBelle. In the same year he also played the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, which also included Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, and John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band, with Eric Clapton on lead guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass and Alan White on drums.

After a hitless four-year stint at Mercury, Berry returned to Chess from 1970 to 1973. Although his 1970 Chess effort Back Home yielded no hit singles, in 1972 Chess released a new live recording of "My Ding-a-Ling", a song Berry had initially recorded years earlier as a novelty track. The track became Berry's only No. 1 single, and it remains popular today. A live recording of "Reelin' And Rockin'" was also issued as a follow-up single that same year and would prove to be Berry's final top-40 hit in both the U.S. and the UK. Both singles were featured on the part-live/part-studio album "The London Chuck Berry Sessions" which was part of a series of several albums by that title which included other Chess mainstay artists Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.

Berry's second tenure with Chess ended with the 1973 album Bio, after which he did not make a studio record for six years.

1970s: touring as Chuck Berry the legend

In the 1970s Berry toured on the basis of his earlier successes. He was on the road for many years, carrying only his Gibson guitar, confident that he could hire a band that already knew his music no matter where he went. Allmusic has said that in this period his "live performances became increasingly erratic, [...] working with terrible backup bands and turning in sloppy, out-of-tune performances" which "tarnished his reputation with younger fans and oldtimers" alike. In 1977, he made an appearance as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, playing "Johnny B. Goode", "Memphis, Tennessee", and "Carol".

Among the many bandleaders performing a backup role with Chuck Berry were Bruce Springsteen and Steve Miller when each was just starting his career. Springsteen related in the video Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll that Berry did not even give the band a set list and just expected the musicians to follow his lead after each guitar intro. Berry neither spoke to nor thanked the band after the show. Nevertheless, Springsteen backed Berry again when he appeared at the concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

1979: third jail term, White House performance, and final studio album

Berry's type of touring style, traveling the "oldies" circuit in the 1970s — where he was often paid in cash by local promoters — added ammunition to the Internal Revenue Service's accusations that Berry was a chronic income tax evader. Facing criminal sanction for the third time, Berry pleaded guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to four months imprisonment and 1,000 hours of community service — doing benefit concerts — in 1979.

At the request of Jimmy Carter, Chuck Berry performed at The White House on June 1, 1979. Also in 1979, Berry released Rockit for Atco Records, his last studio album to date.

1980–2000: the post-studio era

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Berry continued to play 70 to 100 one-nighters per year in the 1980s, still travelling solo and requiring a local band to back him at each stop.

Berry performing live in 1997

In 1986, Taylor Hackford made a documentary film, Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, of a celebration concert for Berry's sixtieth birthday. Keith Richards was the musical leader. Eric Clapton, Etta James, Julian Lennon, Robert Cray and Linda Ronstadt, among others, appeared with Berry on stage and film. During the concert, Berry played a Gibson ES-355, the luxury version of the ES-335 which he favored on his 1970s tours. Richards played a black Fender Telecaster Custom, Cray a Fender Stratocaster and Clapton a Gibson ES 350T, the same guitar Berry used on his early recordings.

Highlights of the film include a testy exchange between Richards and Berry on how to set an amplifier for a guitar, and Berry needling Richards on his playing of the intro to his "Oh, Carol" during a rehearsal.

1980s-1990s: Berry's business enterprises

In the late 1980s, Berry owned a restaurant in Wentzville, Missouri, called The Southern Air. He also owns a custom built estate in Wentzville, which he dubbed Berry Park. For many years, Berry hosted rock concerts throughout the summer at Berry Park. However, he eventually closed the estate to the public due to the riotous behaviour of many of the guests.

In 1990 Berry was sued by several women who claimed that he had installed a video camera in the ladies' bathrooms at two of his Wentzville restaurants. A class action settlement was eventually reached with 59 women on the complaint. Berry's biographer, Bruce Pegg, estimated that it cost Berry over $1.2 million plus legal fees. It was during this time that he began using Wayne T. Schoeneberg as his legal counsel.

2000: writing credit dispute

In November 2000, Berry was sued by his former pianist Johnnie Johnson, who claimed that he co-wrote over 50 songs, including "No Particular Place to Go", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Roll Over Beethoven", that credit Berry alone. The case was dismissed when the judge ruled that too much time had passed since the songs were written.

Current activities

Currently, Berry usually performs one Wednesday each month at Blueberry Hill, a restaurant and bar located in the Delmar Loop neighborhood in St. Louis. In 2008, Berry toured Europe, with stops in Sweden, Norway, Finland, England, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, and Spain. In the summer of 2008, he played at Virgin Festival in Baltimore, MD.

He presently lives in Ladue, Missouri, Missouri, approximately 10 miles west of St. Louis.

Influence

A pioneer of rock and roll, Berry was a significant influence on the development of early rock and roll guitar techniques. His guitar style is legendary and many later guitar musicians acknowledge him as a major influence in their own style. Richard Berry (no relation) drew on Berry's "Havana Moon" as an inspiration for his own song, the now classic "Louie Louie". John Lennon borrowed a line from Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" for his song "Come Together", and was subsequently sued by Berry's music publisher Morris Levy. Nevertheless, they became good friends and played together on more than one occasion, famously on the Mike Douglas Show.

Jerry Garcia, of The Grateful Dead, cited Berry as a major influence. The Grateful Dead have recorded "Johnny B. Goode", "Around and Around" and "Promised Land". Jerry Garcia performed "Let It Rock" on his Compliments in 1974.

Another guitarist who has cited Berry as a major influence is Joe Perry of Aerosmith, who claims that one of Berry's albums was the first record he ever bought.

Angus Young of AC/DC also credits Berry as a big influence. Young does the Duck Walk, which was made famous by Berry, in AC/DC's concerts and in many of AC/DC's music videos. AC/DC have covered School Days on their second album, T.N.T..

While there is debate about who recorded the first rock and roll record, Berry's early recordings, including "Maybellene" (1955), are among the first fully synthesized rockabilly singles, combining blues and country music with lyrics about girls and cars.

Most of his famous recordings were on Chess Records with pianist Johnnie Johnson from Berry's own band and legendary record producer Willie Dixon on bass, Fred Below on drums, and Berry himself on guitar. It should be noted, however, that Lafayette Leake, not Johnnie Johnson, played the piano on "Johnny B. Goode", "Reelin' and Rockin'", "Sweet Little Sixteen", and "Rock and Roll Music". Additionally, Otis Spann played the piano on "You Can't Catch Me" and "No Money Down".

As quoted in the liner notes of Berry's album 28 Greatest Hits, Leonard Chess recalled:

"I told Chuck to give it a bigger beat. History, the rest, you know? The kids wanted the big beat, cars and young love. It was a trend and we jumped on it."

Clive Anderson wrote for the compilation Chuck Berry — Poet of Rock 'n' Roll:

"While Elvis was a country boy who sang 'black' to some degree ... Chuck Berry provided the mirror image where country music was filtered through an R&B sensibility."

Throughout his career Berry recorded both smooth ballads like "Havana Moon" and blues tunes like "Wee Wee Hours". He recorded more than a dozen Top Ten R&B chart hits, crossed over to have a strong impact on the pop charts with seven top ten U.S. pop hits and four top ten pop hits in the UK and he found his songs being covered by hundreds of blues, country and rock and roll performers.

Berry was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984.

In 2008, Berry was portrayed by rapper and actor Mos Def in the biopic Cadillac Records.

The band Buckcherry derived their name from his, switching around the first letters of each name.

In 2009, Time Magazine named Berry #7 on its list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all-time.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

Charles-François Gounod (17 June 1818 – 18 October 1893) was a French composer, best known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.

Biography

Gounod was born in Paris, the son of a pianist mother and an artist father. His mother was his first piano teacher. Under her tutelage, Gounod first showed his musical talents. He entered the Paris Conservatoire where he studied under Fromental Halévy and Pierre Zimmermann (he later married Zimmermann's daughter). In 1839, he won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Fernand. In this, he was following in his father's footsteps; François-Louis Gounod (d. 1823) had won the second Prix de Rome in painting in 1783.

Caricature from Punch, 1882.

Charles Gounod in 1859, the year of the premiere of Faust

He subsequently went to Italy where he studied the music of Palestrina and other sacred works of the sixteenth century. Around 1846-47 he began studying for the priesthood, but he changed his mind and went back to composition.

In 1848, Gounod started writing a "Messe Solennelle", also known as the "Saint Cecilia Mass". This work (which still crops up quite often in concerts and on disc) was first performed in London during 1851, and from its premiere dates Gounod's fame as a noteworthy composer.
During 1855 Gounod wrote two symphonies. His Symphony No. 1 in D major was the inspiration for the Symphony in C, composed later that same year by Georges Bizet, who was then Gounod's 17-year-old student. Despite their charm and brilliance, Gounod's symphonies are largely neglected nowadays. In the CD era, however, a few recordings of these pieces have emerged: by Michel Plasson conducting the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, and by Sir Neville Marriner with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Gounod wrote his first opera, Sapho, in 1851, but had no great theatrical success until Faust (1859), based on the play by Goethe. This remains his best-known work, and although it took a while to achieve great renown, it eventually became one of the most frequently staged operas of all time. The romantic and highly melodious Roméo et Juliette (based on the Shakespeare play), premiered in 1867, is also performed and recorded now and then, even though it has never come close to matching Faust's popularity. Mireille of 1864, a charming and graceful composition, has been admired by connoisseurs rather than by the general public.

From 1870 to 1874 Gounod lived in England, becoming the first conductor of what is now the Royal Choral Society. Much of Gounod's music from this time is vocal in nature. He became entangled with the amateur English singer Georgina Weldon, a relationship (platonic, it seems) which ended in great acrimony.

Fanny Mendelssohn introduced the keyboard music of J. S. Bach to Gounod, who came to revere Bach hugely. For him, The Well-Tempered Clavier was "the law to pianoforte study ... the unquestioned textbook of musical composition".

Later in his life, Gounod returned to his early religious impulses, writing much religious music. His earlier work included an improvisation of a melody over the C major Prelude (BWV 846) from The Well-Tempered Clavier, to which in 1859 Gounod set the words of Ave Maria, resulting in his composition Ave Maria, a setting that became world-famous. He also wrote a Pontifical Anthem, now the official national anthem of the Vatican City. He also wanted to compose his Messe à la mémoire de Jeanne d'Arc while kneeling on the stone on which Joan of Arc knelt at the coronation of Charles VII of France. A devout Catholic, Gounod had on his piano a music-rack in which was carved an image of the face of Jesus.

He was made a Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur in July 1888. In 1893, apparently shortly after he had put the finishing touches to a requiem written for his grandson, he died in Saint-Cloud, France.

One of his short pieces, Funeral March of a Marionette, became well known as the theme to Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Operas

Sapho (1851, revised 1884)
La nonne sanglante (1854)
Le médecin malgré lui (1858)
Faust (1859, revised 1869)
Philémon et Baucis (1860, revised 1876)
La colombe (1860)
La reine de Saba (1862)
Mireille (1864)
Roméo et Juliette (1867, revised 1888)
Cinq-Mars (1877)
Polyeucte (1878)
Le tribut de Zamora (1881)
Maître Pierre (incomplete, 1877-84)

Oratorios

Tobie (1854)
Gallia (1871)
Jésus sur le lac de Tibériade (1873)
La rédemption (1882) (commissioned for, and premiered at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival)
Christus factus est (1842)
Mors et Vita (1884)
Requiem (1891)

Charles Gounod's burial site (Auteuil, Paris, France)

Symphonies

Symphony No. 1 in D major (1855) (probably begun around 1843)
Symphony No. 2 in E flat major (1855)

Chamber music

String Quartet in A minor (published as No.3)
String Quartet in C minor "Petit quatuor"
String Quartet No.2 in A Major
String Quartet No.3 in F Major
String Quartet in G minor
Petite Symphonie pour neuf instruments à vent (1885) 'Little Symphony for Winds'

Instrumental

"Marche Pontificale" composed for Pope Pius IX's silver jubilee of priestly ordination in 1869. Since 24 December 1949 it has been the official Papal Anthem.
"Funeral March of a Marionette" (1872), well-known for being the theme music to the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Works for organ

About the Video

COFA Prouctions and Eric Fonseca presents his indie animated homage to Gounod's classical piece "Funeral March for a Marionette" [sic].

One full year in production, I created the story line based upon this classical tune (ala Disney's Fantastia), made the sets and puppets, animated them, and loved every second of this wonderful art form. I am in production on my second short film, The Fall of the House of Usher, and am really excited about this one.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

I adore Amy Lee's voice...

Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording two private EPs and a demo CD named Origin, with the help of Bigwig Enterprises in 2000, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and helped the band win two Grammy Awards. A year later, Evanescence released their first live album, Anywhere but Home, which sold more than one million copies worldwide. In 2006, the band released their second studio album, The Open Door, which sold more than five million copies. The band has suffered several line-up changes, including co-founder Moody leaving mid-tour in 2003, bassist Will Boyd in mid-2006, followed by guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray in 2007. The latter two of the changes ultimately led the band to be on hiatus with only temporary replacements sought in order for the band to finish touring. In June 2009, Amy Lee posted on the official Evanescence website that the band had been working on new material for a proposed 2010 album.

History Formation and early years: 1995-2001

Evanescence was founded by singer, pianist and songwriter Amy Lee and former lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody. The two met in 1994 at a youth camp in Little Rock, where Moody heard Lee playing "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf on the piano. Their first songs together were "Solitude" and "Give Unto Me", both written by Lee, and "Understanding" and "My Immortal", both written by Moody. The songs were edited by both artists, and they shared equal credit. Two of Lee and Moody's songs found playtime on local radio stations, raising local awareness of the group and demand for a concert. The band eventually appeared live, and became one of the most popular acts in the area. After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, which means "disappearance" or "fading away" (from the word evanesce, which means "to disappear"). Lee loved the name because "it is mysterious and dark, and places a picture in the listeners' mind."

Their first full-length demo CD, Origin (released in 2000), is relatively unknown. The band also released two EPs. The first is the self-titled Evanescence EP (1998), of which about 100 copies were made and distributed at the band's early live performances. The second is the Sound Asleep EP, also known as the Whisper EP (1999), which was limited to 50 copies. Origin and the EPs contain demo versions of some of the songs on their debut album, Fallen. For example, the recording of "My Immortal", found on Fallen, can also be found on Origin, minus a handful of additional string accompaniments. Only 2,500 copies of this record were produced; in response, Lee and Moody encouraged fans to download the band's older songs from the Internet.

Fallen and Anywhere but Home: 2002-2005

The band's signature font was created when Fallen was in development. The label designers used slightly modified versions of each character to make the track titles look unique.

In early 2003, the lineup was completed by Amy Lee and Ben Moody's friends, John LeCompt, Rocky Gray and Will Boyd, all of whom worked on Evanescence's earlier songs. Meanwhile, Evanescence signed on with their first major label, Wind-up Records, and began work on their first album, Fallen. While they were looking to promote Fallen, Evanescence accepted an offer from the video game company Nintendo to perform on the "Nintendo Fusion Tour" which they headlined in 2003.

Fallen spent 43 weeks on the Billboard Top 10; was certified 7x Platinum in the United States; and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, including 7 million in the U.S. The album was listed for 104 weeks on the Billboard Top 200, and it was one of eight albums in the history of the chart to spend at least a year on the Billboard Top 50. On October 22, 2003, Moody left the band during the European tour for Fallen, reportedly because of creative differences. In an interview several months later, Amy Lee said: "...we'd gotten to a point that if something didn't change, we wouldn't have been able to make a second record." This became a point of confusion for some people, as Moody and Lee stated on the Fallen album liner notes that they were best friends. Later, Lee said it was almost a relief that he left because of tensions created within the band. Moody was replaced by Terry Balsamo from Cold.

Evanescence's major label debut single "Bring Me to Life", which features guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, was a global hit for the band and reached #5 on the American Billboard Hot 100. It provided Evanescence with their first UK #1 listing, where it stayed for four weeks from June-July 2003. The song also became the official theme for WWE No Way Out 2003. The equally popular "My Immortal" peaked at #7 in the U.S. and UK charts, and both songs were featured in the soundtrack for the action movie Daredevil. "Bring Me to Life" garnered recognition for the band at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004, where they won the Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist awards and were nominated for two others. The two other singles off Fallen are "Going Under" (#5 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #8 UK Charts) and "Everybody's Fool" (#36 U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, #23 UK Charts); all were promoted by a music video.

Evanescence performing at the concert in Le Zénith, Paris, featured on Anywhere but Home

In 2004, Evanescence's new lineup released a DVD/CD compilation entitled Anywhere but Home. The DVD includes a concert in Paris, as well as behind-the-scenes features, including shots of the band backstage signing autographs and warming up. The CD contains a previously unreleased song entitled "Missing", which was internationally released as a single and reached #1 in Spain. Also on the CD are the live songs "Breathe No More" (from the Elektra movie soundtrack), "Farther Away", and the band's cover of Korn's "Thoughtless".

The Open Door: 2006-2008

A spokesperson for the band's label confirmed on July 14, 2006 that bassist Will Boyd had left the band for "not wanting to do another big tour" and wanting "to be close to his family." Amy Lee originally broke the news to the fans in a post on an unofficial Evanescence site, EvBoard.com. In an interview with MTV, posted on their website on August 10, 2006, Lee announced that Tim McCord, former Revolution Smile guitarist, would switch instruments and play bass for the band.

Evanescence performing at a concert in Brazil in 2007

The album progressed slowly for several reasons, including Amy Lee's desire to maximize the creative process and not rush production, other band members' side projects, guitarist Terry Balsamo's stroke, and the loss of their former manager. Although Lee stated on the fan forum Evboard that Evanescence's new album would be completed in March 2006, the release was pushed back allegedly because "Wind-up Records...wanted to make a few changes to the upcoming single "Call Me When You're Sober", which hit modern rock and alternative rock radio on August 7, 2006.

The 13-track album The Open Door was released in Canada and the United States on October 3, 2006; the United Kingdom on October 2, 2006; and Australia on September 30, 2006. The album sold 447,000 copies in the United States in its first week of sales and earned their first #1 ranking on the Billboard 200 album chart, becoming the 700th #1 album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956. The music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was shot in Los Angeles and is based on the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.

The Open Door became available for pre-order on the iTunes Store on August 15, 2006; the music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" was also made available. The tour for The Open Door began on October 5, 2006 in Toronto and included locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe during that year. This first tour continued on January 5, 2007 and included stops in Canada (alongside band Stone Sour), Japan and Australia (alongside band Shihad) and then returned to the U.S. for a second tour in the spring (alongside bands Chevelle and Finger Eleven). As part of their tour, Evanescence performed on April 15, 2007 on the Argentinan festival Quilmes Rock 07 along with Aerosmith, Velvet Revolver and other local bands. They also co-headlined on the Family Values Tour 2007 along with Korn and other bands. The group closed their European tour with a sell-out concert at the Amphi in Ra'anana, Israel, on June 26, 2007, and finished the album tour on December 9, 2007.

John LeCompt, former Evanescence guitarist

On May 4, 2007, John LeCompt announced that he had been fired from Evanescence, and also stated that drummer Rocky Gray had decided to quit. Wind-up issued a press release on May 17, 2007, stating that two Dark New Day members, drummer Will Hunt and guitarist Troy McLawhorn, would be joining the band to replace LeCompt and Gray. It was initially stated that Hunt and McLawhorn would tour with Evanescence until the end of the Family Values Tour in September 2007, but both continued to play with the band through The Open Door tour.

Third studio album: 2009-present

In a news posting to the Evanescence website during June 2009, Amy Lee wrote that the band was in the process of writing new material for a new album proposed for release in 2010. She stated that the music would be an evolution of previous works and be "better, stronger, and more interesting". The band also announced that they will be performing at the Maquinaria Festival in São Paulo, Brazil, on November 8, 2009. Prior to their festival performance, the band will be playing a "secret show" at the Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom in New York City on November 4, 2009 with label mates, Civil Twilight. Ticket sales for this "Secret Show" sold out in under an hour and a half, when released to the public.

In other media

Lee claimed that she wrote a song for the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but that it was rejected because of its dark sound. Lee went on to state that it was just "more great stuff [for The Open Door]". Another song supposedly written for Narnia was the Mozart-inspired "Lacrymosa". The producers of Narnia, however, refuted her claim, stating this information was "news to them" and that no Evanescence music had been planned for inclusion in the soundtrack.

Musical style and influences

Critics vary in terming Evanescence a rock or metal band, but most identify them as some form of gothic band: Publications such as the New York Times, Rough Guides, Rolling Stone and Blender have identified Evanescence as a gothic metal act, while other sources such as NME, MusicMight, IGN and Popmatters have termed them gothic rock. They have been compared to a variety of bands from differing genres, such as nu metal ensembles like P.O.D. and Linkin Park, gothic metal groups like Lacuna Coil, and symphonic metal acts like Nightwish and Within Temptation. David Browne of Blender offers an elaborate description of the band's music as "goth Christian nü-metal with a twist of melancholic Enya." Adrien Begrand of Popmatters describes Evanescence as utilising "nu-metal riffage".

Adrian Jackson of My Dying Bride stated that he feels Evanescence is doing something similar to his own gothic metal group, only in a more commercial direction. Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost suggests that Paradise Lost has probably influenced Evanescence only indirectly through other similar acts. Other genres and influences used to describe the band’s sound include alternative metal, alternative rock, hard rock, post-grunge and electronica.

Evanescence was originally promoted in Christian stores. Later, the band made it clear they did not want to be considered part of the Christian rock genre. Terry Hemmings, CEO of Christian music distributor Provident, expressed puzzlement at the band's about-face, saying "They clearly understood the album would be sold in these [Christian music] channels." After many Christian stores began to remove the band's music from their shelves, Wind-up Records chairman Alan Meltzer then issued a press release in April 2003 requesting formally that they do this. In 2006, Amy Lee told Billboard that she had opposed being identified as a "Christian band" from the beginning.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

There's definitely not enough Queen on this site. Let's take a step towards rectifying that sorry state of affairs...

Now this is going back a few years. Back to 1957, to be precise, and one of the founding fathers of rhythm and blues, which later spawned Rock&Roll and further developed into my beloved Rock (now known as Classic Rock.)

Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and many, many others were my introduction to good music despite me being born a couple of decades too late to appreciate them at the height of their success...

I really, really love this kind of stuff.

Fats Domino in concert, 1992

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928) is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.

Biography

Antoine was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Imperial Records era (1949–1962)

Domino first attracted national attention with "The Fat Man" in 1949 on Imperial Records. This song is an early rock and roll record, featuring a rolling piano and Domino doing "wah-wah" vocalizing over a fat back beat. It sold over a million copies and is widely regarded as the first rock and roll record to do so.

Fats Domino then released a series of hit songs with producer and co-writer Dave Bartholomew, saxophonists Herbert Hardesty and Alvin "Red" Tyler and drummer Earl Palmer. Other notable and long-standing musicians in Domino's band were saxophonists Reggie Houston, Lee Allen, and Fred Kemp, who was also Domino's trusted bandleader. Domino finally crossed into the pop mainstream with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955), which hit the Top Ten, though Pat Boone characteristically hit #1 with a milder cover of the song that received wider radio airplay in a racially-segregated era. Domino would eventually release 37 Top 40 singles, "Whole Lotta Loving" and "Blue Monday" among them.

Domino's first album, Carry on Rockin', was released under the Imperial imprint, #9009, in November 1955 and subsequently reissued as Rock and Rollin' with Fats Domino in 1956. Combining a number of his hits along with some tracks which had not yet been released as singles, the album went on under its alternate title to reach #17 on the "Pop Albums" chart.

His 1956 up tempo version of the 1940 Bobby Cerdeira, Al Lewis & Larry Stock song, "Blueberry Hill" reached #2 in the Top 40, was #1 on the R&B charts for 11 weeks, and was his biggest hit. "Blueberry Hill" sold more than 5 million copies worldwide in 1956-57. The song had earlier been recorded by Gene Autry, and Louis Armstrong among many others. He also hit singles between 1956-1959, including "When My Dreamboat Comes Home" (Pop #14), "I'm Walkin'" (Pop #4), "Valley of Tears" (Pop #8), "It's You I Love" (Pop #6), "Whole Lotta Loving" (Pop #6), "I Want to Walk You Home" (Pop #8), and "Be My Guest" (Pop #8).

Fats appeared in two films released in 1956: Shake, Rattle & Rock! and The Girl Can't Help It. On December 18, 1957, Domino's hit "The Big Beat" was featured on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

Domino continued to have a steady series of hits for Imperial through early 1962, including "Walkin' to New Orleans" (1960) (Pop #6) co-written by Bobby Charles and "My Girl Josephine" (Pop #14) from the same year. After Imperial Records was sold to outside interests in early 1963, Domino left the label: "I stuck with them until they sold out", he claimed in 1979. In all, Domino recorded over 60 singles for the label, placing 40 songs in the top 10 on the R&B charts, and scoring 11 top 10 singles on the pop charts. Twenty-two of Domino's Imperial singles were double-sided hits.

Post-Imperial recording career (1963–1970s)

Domino moved to ABC-Paramount Records in 1963. The label dictated that he would record in Nashville rather than New Orleans. He was assigned a new producer (Felton Jarvis) and a new arranger (Bill Justis); Domino's long-term collaboration with producer/arranger/frequent co-writer Dave Bartholomew, who oversaw virtually all of his Imperial hits, was seemingly at an end.

Jarvis and Justis changed the Domino sound somewhat, notably by adding the backing of a countrypolitan-style vocal chorus to most of his new recordings. Perhaps as a result of this tinkering with an established formula, Domino's chart career was drastically curtailed. He released 11 singles for ABC-Paramount, but only had one top 40 entry with "Red Sails In The Sunset" (1963). By the end of 1964 the British Invasion had changed the tastes of the record-buying public, and Domino's chart run was over.

Despite the lack of chart success, Domino continued to record steadily until about 1970, leaving ABC-Paramount in mid-1965 and recording for a variety of other labels (Mercury, Bartholomew's small Broadmoor label reuniting with Dave Bartholomew along the way, and Reprise). He also continued as a popular live act for several decades.

Later career (1980s–2005)

In the 1980s, Domino decided he would no longer leave New Orleans, having a comfortable income from royalties and a dislike for touring, and claiming he could not get any food that he liked any place else. His induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an invitation to perform at the White House failed to persuade Domino to make an exception to this policy.

Fats Domino was persuaded to perform out of town periodically for Dianna Chenevert, agent, founder and president of New Orleans based Omni Attractions, during the 1980s and early 1990s. Most of these engagements were in and around New Orleans, but also included a concert in Texas at West End Market Place in downtown Dallas on October 24, 1986.

On October 12, 1983 USA Today reported that Domino was included in Chenevert's "Southern Stars" promotional poster for the agency (along with historically preserving childhood photographs of other famous living musicians from New Orleans and Louisiana on it). Fats provided a photograph of his first recording session, which was the only one he had left from his childhood. Domino autographed these posters, whose recipients included USA Today's Gannett president Al Newharth, and Peter Morton founder of the Hard Rock Cafe. Times-Picayune columnist Betty Guillaud noted on September 30, 1987 that Domino also provided Chenevert with an autographed pair of his shoes (and signed a black grand piano lid) for the Hard Rock location in New Orleans.

Domino lived in a mansion in a predominantly working-class Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, where he was a familiar sight in his bright pink Cadillac automobile. He makes yearly appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and other local events. Domino was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #25 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time."

Graffiti on Domino's home from the time he was rumored dead

Fats Domino's office, June 2007

Domino and Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina was approaching New Orleans in August 2005, Dianna Chenevert encouraged Fats to evacuate, but he chose to stay at home with his family, partly because of his wife's poor health. Unfortunately his house was in an area that was heavily flooded. Chenevert e-mailed writers at the Times Picayune newspaper and the Coast Guard with the Dominos' location.

Someone thought Fats was dead, and spray-painted a message on his home, "RIP Fats. You will be missed", which was shown in news photos. On September 1, Domino's agent, Al Embry, announced that he had not heard from the musician since before the hurricane had struck.

Later that day, CNN reported that Domino was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Embry confirmed that Domino and his family had been rescued. The Domino family was then taken to a Baton Rouge shelter, after which they were picked up by JaMarcus Russell, the starting quarterback of the Louisiana State University football team, and Fats' granddaughter's boyfriend. He let the Dominos stay in his apartment. The Washington Post reported that on September 2, they had left Russell's apartment after sleeping three nights on the couch. "We've lost everything", Domino said, according to the Post.

By January 2006, work to gut and repair Domino's home and office had begun. For the meantime, the Domino family is residing in Harvey, Louisiana.

Chenevert replaced the Southern Stars poster Fats Domino lost in Katrina and President George W. Bush also made a personal visit and replaced the medal that President Bill Clinton had previously awarded Fats.

President George W. Bush shakes the hand of Fats Domino, wearing a National Medal of Arts, after the President presented it on August 29, 2006, at the musician's home in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. The medal was a replacement medal for the one—originally awarded by President Bill Clinton—that was lost in the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina.

Post-Katrina activity

Domino was the first artist to be announced as scheduled to perform at the 2006 Jazz & Heritage Festival. However, he was too ill to perform when scheduled and was only able to offer the audience an on-stage greeting. Domino also released an album Alive and Kickin' in early 2006 to benefit the Tipitina's Foundation, which supports indigent local musicians. The title song was recorded after Katrina, but most of the cuts were from unreleased sessions in the 1990s.

On January 12, 2007, Domino was honored with OffBeat magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Best of the Beat Awards held at House of Blues in New Orleans. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared the day "Fats Domino Day in New Orleans" and presented Fats Domino with a signed declaration. OffBeat publisher Jan Ramsey and WWL-TV's Eric Paulsen presented Fats Domino with the Lifetime Achievement Award. An all-star musical tribute followed with an introduction by the legendary producer Cosimo Matassa. The Lil' Band O' Gold rhythm section, Warren Storm, Kenny Bill Stinson, David Egan and C.C. Adcock, not only anchored the band, but each contributed lead vocals, swamp pop legend Warren Storm leading off with "Let the Four Winds Blow" and "The Prisoner Song", which he proudly introduced by saying, "Fats Domino recorded this in 1958.. and so did I." The horn section included Lil' Band O' Gold's Dickie Landry, the Iguanas' Derek Huston, and long-time Domino horn men Roger Lewis, Elliot "Stackman" Callier and Herb Hardesty. They were joined by Jon Cleary (who also played guitar in the rhythm section), Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, Irma Thomas, George Porter, Jr. (who, naturally, came up with a funky arrangement for "You Keep On Knocking"), Art Neville, Dr. John and Allen Toussaint, who wrote and debuted a song in tribute of Domino for the occasion. Though Domino didn't perform, those near him recall him playing air piano and singing along to his own songs.

Fats Domino returned to stage on May 19, 2007, at Tipitina's at New Orleans, performing to a full house. A foundation has been formed and a show is being planned for Domino and the restoration of his home, where he intends to return someday. "I like it down there" he said in a February, 2006 CBS News interview.

In September 2007, Domino was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday. In December 2007, Fats Domino was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In May 2009, Domino made an unexpected appearance for The Domino Effect, a namesake concert aimed at raising funds to help rebuild schools and playgrounds damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Influence

He was acknowledged as an important influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s by some of the top artists of that era. Paul McCartney reportedly wrote the Beatles song "Lady Madonna" in an emulation of Domino's style, combining it with a nod to Humphrey Lyttelton's 1956 hit "Bad Penny Blues", a record which Joe Meek had engineered.[citation needed] Domino did manage to return to the "Hot 100" charts one final time in 1968—with his own recording of "Lady Madonna". That recording, as well as covers of two other Beatles songs, appeared on his Reprise LP Fats Is Back, produced by Richard Perry and recorded by a band which included New Orleans piano player James Booker; Domino played piano only on one track, "I'm Ready". Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney later recorded Fats Domino songs. Domino's music such as the song "Be My Guest" was an influence on ska music.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

Louis XIV was an American rock band from San Diego, California.

History

Beginnings: 2003-2004

Lead singer/guitarist Jason Hill, guitarist Brian Karscig, and drummer Mark Maigaard formed the group in April 2003 while living in Paris, France. Bassist James Armbrust soon joined after.

Louis XIV, the band's first album, was released in November 2003. It was recorded in a basement in the Spanish district in Paris, France in the spring of 2003. Recorded on a 16-track tape machine, it was released independently through Pineapple Recording Group, a label started by Hill and Karscig. Although the record was only sold at shows, on the band's website, and in some independent record stores, it sold over 22,000 copies in the first six months. First embraced in the UK in 2004, doing the famous Jonathon Ross show television show one week after Oasis and the Mary Hobbs show on BBC Radio 1. They were embraced by Distillers frontwoman Brody Dalle and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme at the 2004 NME Awards.

Illegal Tender EP and The Best Little Secrets Are Kept: 2005

The 'Scotland News of the World billed Louis XIV as the best band of the T in the Park festival. The music video for the instrumental song "The Hunt" was filmed by Hill. The New York-based group Stolen Transmission, run by former Spin magazine writer Sarah Lewitinn, released a three-song handmade CD featuring the songs "Hey Teacher" and "God Killed the Queen". After the band returned to California, local deejays, including 91x in San Diego, began playing an unreleased song from the bands website, "Finding out True love is Blind", leading to the release of two simultaneous limited EPs, Pink and Blue. Eight major radio stations on the West Coast then named the single a top five song, leading to the band signing to Atlantic Records in late 2004.

The band released an EP entitled Illegal Tender in January 2005, (self produced) followed in March by their second full-length album, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept (produced by Jason Hill). The album depicts a half-naked girl with the song titles written on her back. A tamed-down version of the cover was released in Wal-Mart, with a portion of the girl's body cropped off. Their first single was titled "Finding Out True Love Is Blind". The band released their second single off their debut album, "God Killed the Queen", in September 2005.

In 2005 NME called the band "music to flunk rehab to", while Rolling Stone and MTV named them as one of its top 10 bands to watch. The music video for "Pledge of Allegiance", filmed again by Hill, was filmed containing the album cover girl undressing in front of a camera. The music video for "Paper Doll" was released exclusively on the alt porn website Suicide Girls. The video, featuring various models in different stages of undress, was directed by alt-porn pioneer Eon McKai, director of "Art School Sluts", the "Kill Girl Kill" series, and "Neu Wave Hookers". In 2007, David Bowie and Alicia Keys asked the band to play their BlackBall charity event for Aids in Africa. Bowie cites Louis XIV as one his favorite new bands in numerous Conde Naste publications.

Band members Jason Hill and Brian Karscig sang on three songs on The Killers 2007 album Sam's Town, which has gone on to sell almost 5 million records.

In 2007 Hill is credited as sometime touring guitarist for country musicians and drum engineer for Dixie Chicks. He also remixed a song by the Los Angeles-based punk band The Bronx(Island/Def Jam) and produced an EP by the New York-based The Virgins (Atlantic) featured on HBO's Entourage.

In September 2007, Louis XIV was joined by violinist Ray Suen as a touring member.

Also in 2007, Louis XIV toured Australia, Mexico and the USA with The Killers and played several AIDS IN AFRICA charity events with David Bowie and Alicia Keyes

In February-April 2009, Louis XIV went on a world tour with the Killers playing upwards of 15,000-25,000 people a night. After a show in Manchester at the o2 arena, the manchester tribune called the band, "Criminally overlooked".

The Distances from Everyone to You, another EP, was released through the iTunes Store on September 11, 2007. The EP contains the band's cover version Queen's Flash Gordon theme and later used for the Sci Fi Channel's new Flash Gordon television series.

Slick Dogs and Ponies and breakup: 2008-2009

Their 2008 album, Slick Dogs and Ponies, produced by Hill, was released on January 28, 2008. The album contained the release of "Guilt by Association", complete with an eight piece cello and eight guitar solo and ending with a flute. The first single, "Air Traffic Control", featuring a 24-piece string section, was in the Top 40 Alternative radio charts.

The band toured North America between January and March, supporting Editors. On June 7, 2008 the band opened for The Sex Pistols in Las Vegas, the only U.S. performance of the Pistols' "Combine Harvester" tour.

Louis XIV announced a European tour for August 2008, including the Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals.

In February-May 2009 Louis XIV joined The Killers for a European tour, followed by a main stage spot on V Festival tour around Australia Vfestivals and a string of club dates in the region with The Kills.

Louis XIV recently announced the breakup of the band. Band member Brian Karscig says this: "Never say never to another LXIV record...just not anytime soon." All the members are pursuing their own musical interests at this time.

Controversy

Louis XIV were known for their sexually provocative lyrics. In 2005 the Hoover, Alabama board of education withdrew an invitation for the band to perform a free concert at Hoover High School after hearing complaints about the band's lyrics. The board, citing a recent arrest in California for drug possession, song contents and "the likely possibility of irresponsible acts," determined that it was "not appropriate to have a band of this kind of nature."

The incident has given rise to the group being "banned from Alabama". As Hill explained to Reverb Magazine (Newcastle, Australia) on November 17, 2007, while on tour in Melbourne, Victoria:

When you hang out with us, you realize that we like having a laugh. But Hoover, Alabama banned us — we weren't allowed to perform in the city at the time. I have no idea why. I've been called a sexist and a male chauvinist. There was a really great article in San Francisco's paper, ', which was about "10 Reasons Why You Should Not Like Louis XIV"; it was the greatest article I’ve ever read. I've even been called a racist when I used the terms "Chocolate Girl" and "Vanilla Girl". I was trying to be playful and flirtatious. People don't realize when we're being tongue-in-cheek. But in some ways, the most negative press can also be the biggest compliment.

Sources: YouTube, Wikipedia

Well, it's kinda fitting for me...

Just another example of how varied my tastes in music can be. I absolutely adore the sounds of Africa, and this guy is just amazing!

Salif Keita (born August 25, 1949) is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste system, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot’s role.

Keita was born in the city of Djoliba. He was cast out by his family and ostracized by the community because of his albinism, a sign of bad luck in Mandinka culture. He left Djoliba for Bamako in 1967, where he joined the government sponsored Super Rail Band de Bamako. In 1973 Keita joined the group, Les Ambassadeurs. Keita and Les Ambassadeurs fled political unrest in Mali during the mid-1970s for Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and subsequently changed the group's name to Les Ambassadeurs Internationales. The reputation of Les Ambassadeurs Internationales rose to the international level in the 1970s and in 1977 Keita received a National Order award from the president of Guinea, Sékou Touré.

Keita moved to Paris in 1984 to reach a larger audience. His music combines traditional West African music styles with influences from both Europe and the Americas, while maintaining an overall Islamic style. Musical instruments that are commonly featured in Keita's work include balafons, djembes, guitars, koras, organs, saxophones, and synthesizers.

Keita found success in Europe as one of the African stars of world music, but his work was sometimes criticised for the gloss of its production and for the occasional haphazard quality. However, shortly after the turn of the Millennium he returned to Bamako in Mali to live and record. His first work after going home, 2002’s Moffou, was hailed as his best album in many years, and Keita was inspired to build a recording studio in Bamako, which he used for his latest album, M'Bemba, released in October 2005.

A little ditty about Toledo, Ohio

A slightly watered-down for TV live performance from the boys here, but still good stuff...

Hey, it's got to be good, that's Bon Scott there!